AUBURN, Ala. – The Vanderbilt baseball team fell, 5-1, to Auburn on Friday evening at Plainsman Park. With the loss, the Commodores move to 21-8 on the season, including a 4-6 mark in SEC play.
Auburn scored four runs across the first three frames to gain early momentum, before the Vanderbilt pitching staff settled in to hold the Tigers scoreless across the next four frames and keep the game within striking distance. The Commodores plated their lone run of the night in the seventh before Auburn added insurance with a run of its own in the eighth to hold on for the win.
Chris McElvain (4-2) earned the start for Vanderbilt and suffered the loss. McElvain allowed four earned runs on six hits over 5.2 innings of work, while striking out five. McElvain was followed by Thomas Schultz, who covered 1.1 hitless frames with one strikeout. Grayson Moore tossed the final inning for Vandy, yielding one earned run on one hit.
Auburn plated its first run of the game in the bottom of the second. The Tigers connected on a leadoff home run to begin the frame to break into the scoring column and take a 1-0 lead after two full.
The Tigers returned to the dish to add three more in the third to extend their lead. The inning began with a leadoff single followed by another single with one out to place runners on first and second. One batter later, a three-run homer to left center made it a 4-0 contest.
The two teams went scoreless across the next three frames until the Commodores broke into the scoring column in the seventh. Rob Gordon led off the frame with a double to left field before advancing to second on a bunt attempt. One batter later, Gordon came across to score on a sacrifice fly from Enrique Bradfield Jr. to trim the deficit to 4-1.
Auburn tacked on one in the eighth to add late insurance. The Tigers used a one-out walk followed by an RBI triple to score one run and set the score at 5-1, the eventual final.
The two teams will return to the diamond tomorrow afternoon for Game 2 of the series. First pitch is set for 4 p.m., with action airing live on SEC Network+.
